Killing mice

Hey guys my mom is awesome and lets me breed my own mice in my room and all that good stuff. I dont want to feed live mice to my snakes becouse of the risk of bites,scars,etc. I told my mom i didnt think i could kill the mouse by putting it in a baggy and slaming it on the countertop. She said well ya there is this thing where you put a cotton ball in a jar and a mouse in a ja and drop this one drop of liquid stuff(she couldnt member the name) and it kills the mouse in 1 second. She said she would go to the vet and ask what it is. But il get some more info when she comes home from work. Do you guys think this is a ood idea? i was thinking maybe the chem. can get in its lung and hurt the snake when it eats the mouse or somthing like that.

Dustin

That chemical might be chloroform, but I'm not totally sure. I don't know if it would linger in the mouse and cause any harm...

or perhaps ether

either way I would advise against chemical euthiasia(sp?).

You can get a canister of CO2 frrom a paintball store, then carefully fill a bag with the gas (it's heavier than air) then drop in the mice you want to kill - leave them in for a couple minutes, even though they're probably dead in 30 seconds or less.

This will be guaranteed harmless to your snake.

Dry Ice might be even cheaper.

Dry Ice is frozen CO2.

What I do, since I've gotten tired of killing, freezing, and then thawing out my pinkies, fuzzies, and mice, is ask for a plastic cricket bag, or two, at the pet store. They've stopped asking now, but every new sale-person has asked, "Aren't you going to feed them live?"

Anyway, I put the mice into a plastic cricket bag and squeeze out the air. I then close of the end with a few twists and a attach a rubberband. I do the same with adult mice, but I then place the bag they are in into another plastic bag, since they can eat throught the first, and then seal off the second bag as well.

I live about fifteen minutes away from the pet store that supplies me with my snake food and, by the time I reach home, the pinkies and the fuzzies are dead. The mice are almost out cold by then, but take a little longer.

I forget who it was, but someone on the forum here gave me the idea when they said they used a GladWare container to suffocate their snake food. One of the guys at the pet store said to blow into the bag, since we give off CO1, but trying that didn't work. The pinkies were alive thirty-minutes later. The air has to be gone, then they sufficate on their own lack of oxigen.

That might have been me Gregg, I use a butter tub with a single hole in the top, and a small piece of dry ice--when the dry ice melts it pushes the oxygen out the top. Dead in 30 seconds or less. The C02 dissipates quickly in a oxygen rich enviroment, so there is no harm to the snake. I think this is the most humane, but I'm not above smacking them in the head, especially the ones that bite!

another thing is if you have that appliance that sucks the air out of canisters for food storage. you could throw a bunch in and do that. kill them instantly and keep them for months/ years

That is just creepy

honestly people! i am beginning 2 think that some of u dont even hav hearts except when it comes 2 your snakes! i hav already discussed this issue on the post 'dead or alive'! matt what u said about smacking them on the head was cruel and downright (as already been said) creepy! could EVERYONE think a little more about the fate of the mice? (and simple suffocation through the use of plastic bags sounds very inhumane indeed - its already been said that it takes 15 mins 4 the adult mice 2 die! i urge u 2 chemically inject them or feed them alive, or at least freeze them...the appliance that sucks air out of canisters sounds much better than simple suffocation)

Actually CO2 sounds a lot more humane than freezing, bopping, or regular suffocation. I think it's instant so that's better than suffocation and freezing and I don't think the mice enjoy bopping at all.
I wouldn't chemically inject any mice that I feed to my snakes since you don't know what side effects can result from the chemicals.
Feed them alive? Well that sure sounds painless...who wouldn't want to be struck at and then strangled to death?
If Matt L wants to bop his mice who are you to condemn that as cruel and creepy? He is his own free person.
I think it's great that you are so into animal rights but I think it's unnecessary to express your opinion on mouse killing on every thread about mice.
One way or another the snakes will get their mice. It is your personal opinion about which way is better or more humane. I don't think a whole lot of people are going to change their methods just because you think and say it's wrong.
I apologize if I came across like I'm looking for a fight (which I'm not) but this is a public forum and I am expressing my opinion just like everybody else.

Well, really, this thread seems to be about finding the quickest, most humane way to kill mice for snakes. How does this suggest that people don't care about anything but their snakes? Or even that they don't care about mice? By the way, the bopping method ensures a very quick death, with only momentary pain. Sounds a lot better than live feeding to me, which can potentially cause lots of pain and injury to both parties involved.

And I think most of us want to stay away from chemical injection so we don't end up poisoning two animals by accident (first the mouse, then the snake that eats it).

*sigh*Im sorry! im not looking 4 a fight either. the thing that ticked me off was the comment "but im not above hitting them over the head, especially the ones who bite" somehow that just creeped me out. it wasnt the bopping method i was trying to condemn - it was the suffocation. although bopping doesnt sound pleasent, it was, once again, the suffocation that bothered me. i never disagreed with CO2...in fact i think its better 4 the mice. it was the C02 and air-sucking canisters i was trying to uphold, not the bopping or the suffocation. (the only reason i mentioned feeding live was because its the natural way)

okay. deep breaths *im just in "animal rights mode" thats all...im not this argumentative all the time i swear

okay. deep breaths *im just in "animal rights mode" thats all...im not this argumentative all the time i swear it just really ticks me off is all, so if anyone gets annoyed by animal rights activists just tell me 2 shut up and ill try 2 calm down....

DO NOT LET ANYONE TELL YOU NOT TO EXPRESS YOUR FEELINGS! THAT IS YOUR RIGHT!

Then again do not expect anyone to change their habits to fit your feelings. that is their right.

If if were not for animal rights activists there would be no buffilo, whales, and wolves. There are about 100, 000 + species who could have used a animal rights activist or two a bit earlier.

Thanks to animal rights activists animals are not alloud to be harmed in movies anymore. Most movies made before the 60s died as a result of some silly azz stunt the director wanted in his movie. So dont ever knock your self or someone else who is an animal rights activist.

Remember arguing gets us nowhere. No one listenings to arguments.

Perhaps you (and mean any of you) can find a safer, painless and quicker death for these mice. That would sureley mean something.

That is just my 2cp worth

We need to get this thread back on track

Here is a site that may be able to answer your questions:
http://www.anapsid.org/prekill.html

Good luck with raising your own, I can't stand the smell of the mice so I use RodentPro.com

Alicia

Celeste said:

i urge u 2 chemically inject them...

Click to expand...

I work for a vet, and I strongly advise against chemical injection as a way to euthanize the mice! Let me use the example of rat/mouse poison...if a cat eats a mouse that died due to ingesting poison, then the cat is at risk of bleeding to death, too. That's what rat poison does...makes them bleed internally. Anyway, the same applies to any chemical euthanasia...you would be putting your snake at risk.

Also, I tried the freezing thing and it takes much longer than suffocation! I think dry ice is the best option, but anything that is quick will work!

suffocation..

just a thought about carbon dioxide/carbon monoxide poisoning for the people who seem not to understand the process. first it is pretty much the same thing. CO¹ is an unstable compound and will readily bond with free oxygen molecules forming CO²---- breathe a mixture of this for long enough and you die. (don't sit in a running car in a closed garage) carbon monoxide poisoning is the same thing as carbon dioxide (dry ice) poisoning it just takes an extra step. the symptoms of CO² poisoning in humans are dry mouth, impaired judgement, euphoria, blurred vision, followed by unconsciousness and eventually death. it is not a painful thing- you get happy, then stupid, then fall asleep, then die. i ASSUME that this is pretty much the same for mice. i don't think the means for a quicker, more painless death than this are readily available without a lethal injection of some type of neurotoxin that i wouldn't want going down my snakes gullet. well,i'm off to work so have a good day/night everyone... ---jim

SilverTongue said:

If if were not for animal rights activists there would be no buffilo, whales, and wolves. There are about 100, 000 + species who could have used a animal rights activist or two a bit earlier.

Thanks to animal rights activists animals are not alloud to be harmed in movies anymore. Most movies made before the 60s died as a result of some silly azz stunt the director wanted in his movie. So dont ever knock your self or someone else who is an animal rights activist.

Click to expand...

And it is animal rights activists that are campaigning to ban the keeping of reptiles and other pets. I much prefer animal welfare myself. There is a big difference between the two. I recommend reading this page.

I think CO2 is the best method - especially if you have large numbers to "dispatch". The only animal that it might be OK just to freeze is newborn mouse pinks. They are so small it doesn't take long, but I still prefer CO2. With chemical injection you'd probably wind up killing your snake.

Umm i have pet mice,and i have feelings for all animals. If i didnt have a heart for the mouse i wouldnt want to kill them the fastest way now would i. I could just starve them to death culdnt i.I mean if i didnt care about animals sure i could do that. Freezing is not good. It explodes the cells and its probly the most inhumane way to kill the mice. And celeste plz get your mind off of feeding live Just look at this link. If you want your snake to look like this go ahead,go rigt ahead and feed live. for some reason the link isnt workin on my net today. i hate viruses

http://www.redtailboa.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=383

Dustin

the link doesnt work for me either